Introduction:

 The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the largest peacetime oil spill in history and released
approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a four month
timespan. This spill, occurring over three months, devastated local wetlands and aquatic
ecosystems and resulted in the direct and indirect deaths of hundreds of thousands of
animals. Due to the closure of fisheries and a dramatic decline in beach tourism along the
Gulf coast, thousands suffered unemployment why also facing health consequences from
oil exposure. This spill was caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on
April 20, 2010 that killed 11 workers and injured 17 others. The explosion was caused by
a gas leak from a burst pipe made out of an unstable cement mixture that BP, a global oil
company known as British Petroleum and the owner of the rig, knowingly chose to use
(LA Times). BP’s culpability is further increased since they found that this same mixture
was the same cause for the explosion another oil rig in Azerbaijan in 2008, which they
tried to cover up from the media(Guardian). Due to the extreme harm that the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill caused and the clear culpability of the BP and its partners, they released
an advertisement campaign to help restore their oil-tarnished image.
Paragraph 1: (what is object communicating)
 This new advertisement campaigns consisted of a large series of advertisement in
newspapers, magazines, and TV. In the four months that it took for BP to successfully
block the release oil in the Gulf, they spent $93 million dollars on advertising to help
bolster their image(cbsnews). The most notable advertisement was a TV advertisement
released within a month of the explosion that established three main points: their
responsibility, their effort to resolve the incident, and their apology. The advertisement
first establishes that BP recognizes that the spill is was tragedy that should never have
occurred, and BP takes full responsibility for the issue it. They enforce this point by using
the CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, to speak and represent the company, which shows this
claim is genuine and introduce an aspect of seriousness in the advertisement. However,
rather than fully elaborating on the full extent of their responsibility, the advertisement
shifts its focus to the actions BP is taking to resolve the issue. This shift in focus is most
likely meant to change audience’s focus from blaming BP for the issue to instead looking
at the good that BP is doing to resolve that issue, which is an effort to connect to the
viewer rather than make BP an enemy to the viewer. The advertisement uses this strategy
twice, in which the other instance after BP shows its effort to resolve the issue it once
again states they will claim full financial responsibility for all claims against them.
Following this statement, the advertisement shifts to an apology directly to the those
affected and makes another attempt to connect to the viewer. By breaking up their claims
of responsibility and culpability for their actions, BP can ensure the advertisement is not
fully focused on that aspect the situation. Instead, this structure helps to emphasize the
beneficial actions BP is taking and helps to show BP is working with them not against
them. Through this strategy of diluting the focus on BP’s responsibility and concentrating
 it on their actions in the community, the advertisement helps BP to connect to the viewer
more and reduce the animosity against BP.
Paragraph 2: (BP’s actions to help the community)
 The concentration of BP actions to help the community is essential to connecting to the
audience, which is those who have been affected by the oil spill and disprove of BP’s
actions due to the oil spill. The optimal way to reverse the mindset of disdain towards BP
is to connect to the audience at the source of it: the damaged caused to people and the
environment. The advertisement focuses on the latter by emphasizing their efforts to
reverse the effects of the oil spill. They do this directly by stating multiple measures they
are taking and using strong imagery of recovery in the advertisement. For instance, Mr.
Hayward lists several statistics related to BP and their efforts such as releasing over 20
million feet of boom, large floating plastic barriers that are able separate fluids of different
concentrations such as oil. This statement is followed by an image of hundreds of feet of
boom being placed into the water by BP employees. Additionally, Mr. Hayward continues
by stating BP has commissioned over 30 planes and 1,300 boats to help protect the coasts.
Images of large cargo planes and boats carrying an overabundant amount of supplies and
BP employees distributing them is shown as these statements are made. This is all meant
to create the image that BP is working tirelessly and is investing heavily to restore the
Gulf to its proper state and help all of those have been affected. Mr. Hayward even
continues to make the statement that all these operations will not cost any taxpayer money
which only serves to enhance this image of a BP that is working for those
affected(youtube video). In doing so, the advertisement helps BP to connect to the
audience by trying to influence their mindset to shift from blaming BP to believing BP is
the solution and organization that is helping them and is on their side. It is through the
emphasis of the beneficial environmental actions BP is doing to help the community that
allows this advertisement to connect the audience to BP and make them see BP as their
supporter rather than their oppressor.
Paragraph 3: (apology directed to the community)
 Even through emphasizing BP’s actions to resolve the spill and support the community,
BP still needs to further connect to the audience who is suffering from the spill. The
advertisement works to accomplish this goal directly through Mr. Hayward’s apology, as
the figurehead of BP, to the community for BP’s actions. The advertisement uses this
moment to directly connect to the community by showing BP is a part of the community
and is sharing in their suffering. The advertisement does this by stating, “The Gulf is home
to thousands of BP employees, and we all feel the impact” (youtube video). This statement
makes a powerful attempt in connecting to the audience by not only showing BP is one of
them but that BP is feels their suffering from the tragedy and they truly understand the
pain they Gulf coast community is feeling. This emotional and physical connection is
further established by showing an image of the honest, working man who is an BP
employee, which is meant show that BP is truly one of them and feels their hardship.
Furthermore, this prompts another shift in mindset from one that sees a foreign giant
 harming the local Gulf coast community to a mindset that there is a collective community
that is impacted by a great tragedy suffering, including BP, and need to work together as
one to heal. The advertisement shifts to thank the those in the community that are helping
with the cleanup of the oil, which is meant to show BP appreciation for those helping the
community as they are. Mr. Hayward closes the advertisement by stating it is BP’s
responsibility to inform the public on BP’s efforts and for them to work to ensure this
incident will never happen again. This final statement helps BP show they are working for
and with the community while also including segment of admitting responsibility for the
disaster, and by its placement of following two powerful attempts to connect to the
audience it is not made the full focus of the advertisement. Overall, it is with this last
focus of the advertisement BP not only apologies but uses it to connect them to the
suffering audience and show they appreciate them.
Conclusion
 This advertisement does well to emphasize the beneficial aspects of BP’s actions and
attempting to show BP is a part of the affected community while not focusing on BP being
the source of the tragedy. However, this does not mean the advertisement was effective in
accomplishing its goals of restoring BP’s public image. BP destroyed the aquatic
ecosystem in the Gulf killing hundreds of thousands of creatures and led to the
unemployment of thousands all due to the negligence and greed prevalent in their
organization. After 5 years in multiple courts, BP paid $7.8 billion dollars to a
representative body of victims, $4.5 billion dollars to the US Department of Justice for
breaking the Clean Water Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty for the oil-related deaths of
800,000 birds, and for 11 accounts of manslaughter, and paid $20.8 billion dollars to the
US government in a civil case by the Supreme Court, along with making a $20 billion
dollar compensation fund accessible to any victims(Britannica). Whether their
advertisement was effective or not, it did not change the BP’s culpability in the matter for
their greed and disregard for safety in the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.
 Statements
o Tragedy that should not have happened
o BP Takes full responsibility
o Largest environmental response in US history
 +2 million ft of boom used
 30 planes
 1300 boats
 Thousands of people to clean it up on shores
o Will take full responsibility of Legitimate claims
o Won’t cost taxpayers money
o Apologies to families
 Tries to connect to audience by saying it home to many BP employees too
& feels impacts
o Thanks: volenteers, government supporters
 o States it is there responsibility to keep public informed & ensure it will not
happen again
 Imagery
Paragraph 2: (what is the audience it is communicating to)
Paragraph 3: (how does it communicate its message to the audience, what does it connect to do
so)
 Emphasizes the good parts
 Acts as if suffering with those affected, feels the tragedy too & understand the loss
Conclusion:
National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling

Guiding Questions

 Is the object making an argument or trying to persuade the audience?

 Why might the audience disagree or question the propose/intent of the object?
 How does the object use language and visuals to communicate with its audience?
 How do you think the creators of this object perceive the audience and why?

Information about the incident(Britannica)

 It is the largest oil spill in marine history, & happened on April 20, 2010, the Rig was
owned by BP PLC (a British oil company)
 “In 2012 BP agreed to pay more than $4.5 billion in fines and penalties to the U.S. government
and to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges. In 2015, as part of a civil trial, it agreed to pay some
$20 billion.”
 It was built 1,500 meters above the surface and went into the ground another 5,000 meters
 “On the night of April 20 a surge of natural gas blasted through a concrete core recently installed
by contractor Halliburton in order to seal the well for later use”
o Wikileaks showed 2 years prior this happened at another site, for the exact same
reason that the core was too weak for the pressure of the gas
o When released, the gas spread & was ignited & killed 11 workers & injuring 17
others
o 2 days later, the rig collapsed, which broke the piped full of drilling mud that was
used to counteract the upwards pressure, without this opposing force, oil was able
to fully be released into the ocean
o They tried to start the Blowout Preventer(BOP) to block the oil, but this failed
which later was determined to be due to the blind shear rams(large blades used to
cut the oil line) has stopped since the pipe was bent under the pressure
o In may both efforts of putting a cap on the oil to stop the release & filling the hole
to block it failed( 1 because too much buoyant force)
 o In June an attempt to put a lower riser package(a small BOP) on the hole was
successful but there was still major leakage(BP could get 15,000 barrels a day
with the cap)
o The cap was eventually removed for a more permenant one on July 12, which still
leaked & by then 4.9 million barrels were already leaked with only 800,000
collected by BP. Drilling mud was pumped in & a functioning BOP replaced the
old one. Later another approach was taken that filled cement through a relief shaft
that BP started making in May & it effectively stopped the leak
 It was later found that oil plume started forming(which BP initially
denied)
 Cleanup
o Broken up oil droplets were pumped back into the leak. The spilled oil covered
58,000 square miles of the Gulf
o Oil was physically removed when it covered the beaches, it largely affected
lousianna, alabama, florida, and missippi as it arrived
o Clean up was largely directed by the National Response Team which involved the
EPA & Coast Guard
 Aftermath & Impact
o A large portion of fisheries were closed down which left thousands unemployed,
additionally money from tourism dramatically decreased which hurt the local area
o Demanded by Obama, BP made a $20 billion compensation fund which was
depleted by 2013, gradually fisheres could open but states struggled to regain
tourism
o Additionally, cleaning took place whenever oil would arrive, but could always be
cleaned such as in marshes where it was tightly knit in the environment
o The CEO Tony Hayward eventually lost his job due to the way he treated the
situation, and within a year of the spill BP had lost over $40 billion dollars
o The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
stated it was due to a lack of regulatory oversight by the government and negligence
and time-saving measures on the part of BP and its partners
o Another report co-lead by the coastguard found although the defective concrete cap
had been installed by Halliburton, decisions about the installation process made by BP
had been the cause of the failure
 BP employees when testing the rig ignored early indications of a problem and
thus missed opportunities to prevent a full-scale blowout
 Legal Action
o In early March 2012 BP agreed to settle claims made by the plaintiffs’ steering
committee, the consolidated representative body for many of the individual
victims of the spill, for at least $7.8 billion
 In addition to covering economic losses sustained in the wake of the spill,
the settlement mandated the payment of medical claims (which had
previously been denied by the fund) and provided for 21 years of further
 medical monitoring and care, allowing for the delayed onset of symptoms
and illnesses
o In November 2012 BP reached an agreement with the Department of
Justice(DOJ) to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges, among them 11 counts of
felony manslaughter, and violations of the Clean Water and Migratory Bird
Treaty acts. The agreement carried penalties and fines amounting to more than
$4.5 billion
o The EPA banned BP for 4 years from being able to make any more contracts with
the US
o BP’s corporate partners involved in the incident were also involved in separate
cases against the US and pleaded guilty to multiple claims & over a billion each
o Many high ranking BP officials including their senior engineer and Vice President
had criminal charges brought against them but ultimately not received jail time
o The 3 companies were brought into a civil trial together BP was determined to be
60% culpable, Transocean 30%, & Halliburton 3%
 They were liable for 3.2 million barrels (although BP argued for lower &
US argued for higher), and by 2015 it was determined BP would owe
$20.8 billion dollars to US in the Civil Case brought against BP
 Environmental Costs
o Thousands of animals were coated in oil and even more were killed due to side
effects of exposure, which caused many diseases in seas creatures and lowered
fertility rates
o Birds were harshly affected since they are ingested oil from trying to remove it
from themselves or it affected how they regulated their body temperatures, its
estimated 800,000 birds died
o Efforts to help sea turtles struggled as their eggs were dug up to help release them
later, but regardless 1,700 turtles were found dead from the spill
o It was found a large portion of fish suffered from oil-related diseases from the
spill
Information about the cement that burst(LA Times)
 BP looked to Halliburton for the right recipe for a cement mixture for the rig, Halliburton
gave its recipes for nitrogen-infused cement which takes a very careful balance to be
made properly but can be made stronger. BP sent it to Chevron Corp to test and they
reported back that they could not make a stable mixture with desired durability with the
recipe & even when BP & Halliburton discussed this, nothing was done.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/15/wikileaks-bp-azerbaijan-gulf-spill
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bp-spent-93m-on-advertising-after-gulf-spill/
LA Times
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
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